The present invention relates to an employment recruiting system and, more particularly, a method and system for automating services related to employment recruiting.
The objective of employment recruiting is to locate and qualify candidates to satisfy the needs of employers' as evidenced by open employment positions. Generally, the availability of a job opening must be communicated to persons who may be interested in the position, contact must be established between potential job candidates and the employer, and a group of candidates must be screened and interviewed to identify the candidate most suited for the position. Whether the employer undertakes all of these tasks or retains an outside agency to provide recruiting services, locating and screening candidates for employment is a labor, time, and, therefore, cost intensive process.
Recruiters may be retained to locate candidates by directly contacting potentially interested persons. However, this method of locating candidates is relatively expensive and is generally reserved for recruiting for highly compensated, executive positions. Probably, the most common approach to locating candidates outside of the hiring organization is direct advertising of the availability of the position. Generally, a recruiter will prepare an advertisement describing job duties; required experience, skills, and other qualifications; and providing contact information to facilitate interaction between interested persons and the recruiter. Typically, interested persons are directed to reply to the advertisement by sending a resume to a person designated in the advertisement. Resumes received in response to an advertisement are typically organized and screened by the recruiter or a human resources specialist before being passed to a manager responsible for filling the position. The organization of resumes and the prescreening of candidates may require a significant amount of time, particularly in large companies which may have a number of positions open at any time. Before being reviewed by the hiring manager, the resumes may be further screened by a person or group within the hiring department having knowledge of the technical requirements of the job. Finally, the hiring manager may review all or a portion of the resumes received in response to the advertisement to select candidates for a personal interview.
Traditionally, job advertisements have been published in newspapers and in magazines directed to particular groups likely to include potential applicants. As the labor pool has become more mobile, the limitations of print advertising have become significant impediments to the recruiting process. Generally, newspapers have a limited number of subscribers and a limited geographical circulation and purchasing advertising space in a number of newspapers substantially increases the cost of recruiting. While magazines often have national circulation, there are often several magazines that are directed to a particular trade or specialty and the cost of reaching a large pool of potential job applicants by advertising in several magazines can be quite high.
With the development of the Internet and the World Wide Web (the web) many employers have begun posting job advertisements on the employer's company web site. In addition, many newspapers and magazines post advertised positions on web sites as well in their printed publications. While these web sites are accessible to any person with access to the web, potential job applicants must be aware of the company or publication and must repeatedly visit a number of web sites to determine what jobs are available in the field or geographic location of interest. The inefficiency of this process has been addressed by the development of employment bulletin boards on the web.
A number of potential employers can post position advertisements on an employment bulletin board, such as www.monster.com, and www.bestjobsusa.com, where the advertisements can be viewed by potential job applicants accessing the web site. Typically, employment bulletin boards facilitate candidate searching of posted advertisements by occupation, key words, and location, reducing the time required for a job seeker to investigate the large number of position advertisements posted on the bulletin board. In addition to hosting job position advertisements posted by employers, many employment bulletin boards permit potential job applicants to post a resume. If the potential applicant finds an advertisement of interest, a resume can be sent by e-mail directly from the bulletin board to the potential employer. McGovern et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,978,768 describes a computerized job search system that includes a computer-based “personal search agent” that permits a job seeker to periodically monitor new position advertisements posted on the employment bulletin board. When the personal search agent identifies a match between the potential applicant's qualifications and interests and the requirements of an advertised position, the computer will send e-mail to the job seeker identifying the advertised position. The applicant can then cause a resume to be e-mailed to the potential employer and the system can automatically notify the applicant by e-mail when the resume is received by the employer. Further, the system has facilities for converting a resume to text for storage in a searchable data base. Storing a resume as text facilitates manual screening and evaluation of resumes received in response to an advertisement. Employment bulletin boards increase the availability of information about job openings, make it easier for job seekers to find positions of interest and facilitate interaction between potential applicants and employers. However, bulletin boards are of limited utility in assisting employers in sourcing potential job applicants and screening candidates to identify a candidate most suitable for employment. Further, the many of the processes used in recruiting and presenting qualified candidates to the potential employer are manual processes requiring considerable time from job applicants, employees of the and outside contractors representing the potential employer.
What is desired, therefore, is an employment recruiting system that automates the tasks involved in sourcing, screening and presenting qualified job applicants to an employer with employment needs.